Sunnyvale, Calif. -- The Department of Justice on Wednesday charged four defendants, including two Russian intelligence officers, with hacking computer systems at Sunnyvale-based Yahoo and stealing massive amounts of customer data. A grand jury in the Northern District of California has indicted Russian nationals Dmitry Aleksandrovich Dokuchaev, Igor Anatolyevich Sushchin and Alexsey Alexseyevich, as well as Canadian and Kazakh national Belanand Karim Baratov with breaking into Yahoo's network and stealing information from at least 500 million webmail accounts beginning in Jan. 2014. They then allegedly utilized some of that information to access user data from other webmail providers, including accounts of Russian journalists, U.S. and Russian government officials and private-sector employees. The breach not only affected account holders, but also had severe repercussions for Yahoo, itself. As a direct result, Verizon last month shaved $350 million off its acquisition price for the company. "The indictment unequivocally shows the attacks on Yahoo were state-sponsored," wrote Chris Madsen, Yahoo's assistant general counsel and head of global law enforcement for security and safety. "We are deeply grateful to the FBI for investigating these crimes and the DOJ for bringing charges against those responsible." U.S. officials said that Dokuchaev and Sushchin, both officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), protected, directed, facilitated and paid criminal hackers as part of the effort. "We will not tolerate unauthorized and illegal intrusions into the Silicon Valley computer infrastructure upon which both private citizens and the global economy rely," said U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch. "Working closely with Yahoo and Google, Department of Justice lawyers and the FBI were able to identify and expose the hackers responsible." https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-charges-russian-fsb-officers-and-their-criminal-conspirators-hacking-yahoo-and-millions http://marissamayr.tumblr.com/post/158438863549/russian-hackers-and-government-officers-indicted _____________________________________________

o San Francisco-Based Campaign Monitor Acquires Tagga

San Francisco -- Campaign Monitor, a San Francisco-based developer of intelligent email marketing and automation software for brands, said on Wednesday it has acquired Vancouver-based Tagga, developer of a customer data platform for marketers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company said it plans to integrate Tagga's technology into its platform by later this year, allowing marketers to automatically capture data and create behavioral profiles. "[Data is] growing faster than ever before and marketers need to continually capture that behavioral data, extract insights and take action," said CEO Alex Bard, "With Tagga, Campaign Monitor will be the marketer's behavioral data-driven CRM." Campaign Monitor's clients include Adidas, BuzzFeed, Chandon, Rip Curl, the San Diego Chargers, Topshop, Sephora, Vice Media and Virgin. http://www.campaignmonitor.com/taggahttps://www.tagga.com/ https://www.campaignmonitor.com/in-the-news/ _____________________________________________ o San Jose-Based CNEX Labs Lands Third Round of Funding

San Jose, Calif. -- CNEX Labs, a San Jose-based semiconductor company developing solid-state storage controllers and software for data centers, said on Wednesday it has landed an unspecified amount in its third round of funding led by Microsoft Ventures. Several previous backers also took part in the round, which brings the company's total funding to more than $60 million. CNEX said it will use the latest proceeds to ramp production and system integration for customers of its SSD controller products. "The strategic guidance from Microsoft Ventures will be a key asset to CNEX as we launch our storage products into mass production for the global data center ecosystem," said co-founder and CEO Alan Armstrong. http://www.cnexlabs.com http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170315005735/en/Microsoft-Ventures-Leads-Investment-CNEX-Labs-Data _____________________________________________

o San Mateo-Based Diamond Raises $2 Million in New Funding Round

San Mateo, Calif. -- Diamond, the San Mateo-based developer of a personal data management tool, said on Wednesday it has raised $2 million in a round of funding, led by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale of 8VC (formerly Formation 8). Cherubic Ventures, Beehive, Partech Ventures, Sway Ventures, Garage VC and Pierre Lamond also participated in the round. The company has created a single access point for all of a user's cloud-based email, data storage services and personal devices, making data accessible and able to be queried regardless of where it is stored. "At the core of Diamond's vision is a belief in human and machine symbiosis," said founder Pierre Arys. "We're at a unique point in time where machine learning techniques are giving once unreachable results." http://www.diamond.io http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diamond-raises-2-million-to-revolutionize-personal-data-management-300423633.html _____________________________________________

o Shareholders of Neustar Approve Acquisition by Golden Gate Capital

San Francisco -- Neustar, a Virginia-based provider of real-time information services to marketers, said on Wednesday its shareholders have approved the company's $2.9 billion acquisition by an investor group led by San Francisco-based private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. Under the terms of the agreement, first announced in December, Neustar's shareholders will receive $33.50 a share in cash. An affiliate of GIC also will invest in Neustar, becoming a minority owner. "We believe this transaction will enable us to continue to execute against our strategy and strengthen our market position," said Lisa Hook, Neustar's president and CEO, at the time of the original announcement. "Golden Gate Capital and GIC offered us a compelling opportunity to continue to invest and pursue long-term growth with operational flexibility." The deal is expected to close by the end of September. http://www.neustar.bizhttp://www.goldengatecap.com http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170315005334/en/Neustar-Stockholders-Approve-Planned-Acquisition _____________________________________________

Mill Valley, Calif. -- SunLink, a Mill Valley-based developer of engineered photovoltaic system products designed to make solar more reliable and less expensive to install, said it has landed a $10 million line of credit from Heritage Bank of Commerce. The company said it will use the financing to support rapid growth, including scaling its services division and continuing the development of its core software platform. http://www.sunlink.com http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170314005266/en/SunLink-Closes-10-Million-Credit-Facility-Heritage _____________________________________________ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

> The Shifting Sands of Employee Motivation

The old "if-then motivators" of giving bonuses for the achievement of goals no longer work. Work has become too complex and is changing too rapidly for such simple formulas to be relevant and to motivate performance. Here, we summarize research on shifts in employee motivators.

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> The Shifting Sands of Employee Motivation

The old "if-then motivators" of giving bonuses for the achievement of goals no longer work. Work has become too complex and is changing too rapidly for such simple formulas to be relevant and to motivate performance. Here, we summarize research on shifts in employee motivators. http://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/bay-area-tech-wire _____________________________________________ > Director of the Department of Technology/Chief Information Officer

The City and County of San Francisco is conducting a national search for an engaging, customer-service driven executive to oversee the award-winning Department of Technology with over 220 employees and an annual operating budget of nearly $100 million. The Director of the Department of Technology/Chief Information Officer (Director of DT/CIO) is at-will management-level position reporting to the Mayor with functional reporting to the City Administrator. Interested candidates should apply by by submitting a compelling cover letter, comprehensive resume, and current salary to apply@ralphandersen.com. Confidential inquiries welcomed to Ms. Heather Renschler at (916) 630-4900. Detailed brochure available at www.ralphandersen.com. _____________________________________________ > Advertising on Bay Area Tech Wire

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